I've used over a dozen individual express consoles (different 24/48s, 46/96s, 125s, and 250s), and all of them have performed flawlessly for me. It's an excellent high school board, and virtually indestructible, so it's a pretty safe bet to buy a used one. The ones that I've used from rental houses are pretty nice, if anything they have a little bit of tape residue under the faders and the keys are a bit worn down.

The Express has been THE board to have for High School, College, and Community theater for close to 15 years. It's an excellent board as long as you don't plan to do a lot of intelligent DMX gear. It can still handle these things, it's just more complicated than some other boards. I'm not sure what the question is. If you have one, you have a rock solid console and probably don't have a need to change right now. If you are thinking about buying a new one you might want to look at moving up to the newest generation of consoles out there. If you are theater on a low budget and can get a used one that would be a great way to go. What do you want to know?

I know that some of the ETC people on this board may jump on me for saying this, but the Expressline is old, and is most likely on it's way out. I certainly understand the situation of not having a large budget, but my philosophy in purchasing any computer related equipment is that you want to buy the best you can afford, and you don't want to buy something that is basically obsolete.

The Express was (is?) a great board for schools and small venues. It is simple to use and easy to operate. It is pretty rugged, and it gets the job done. I have nothing against the Express save for the fact that I don't think that investing in old technology is a wise idea. ETC is amazing with their tech support, and they will continue to support the Express for many years to come. By the same token though, you wouldn't buy a 10-year-old computer would you? Especially a used one.

Also, while you may only need to control 64 devices today, you never know what you might need next year or the year after. Two or three years down the rad, when the school wants to do some more complex lighting, you will want to have a board that can handle it.

So are you talking about buying a new or used one? If you are talking used and you can find a deal then go for it.

However, I would agree with Icewolf that you should at least consider the other options if you are talking about buying a new one. You may be able to find a newer BETTER console at a very competitive price.

Same thing goes for Expression 3. It's a solid board that if you can get a good deal on a used one great. There are a lot of great new products coming out right now from ETC and Strand that you should look at carefully. These older boards are going away... they may still be in use for another 20 years in some places, but they are past their prime and there is better available at a decent price right now.